W101

OK I was thinking this was the year that the Wilderness 101 was going to be kind to me. I've been doing lots of long rides and felt pretty confident this year. Also I was going to race a Single Speed, I figured I'm pretty slow on the downhills now so I didn't think it would be to bad. I also had a three goals first was getting top 5 in the SS class, have a better finish time than last year, and not have any major meltdowns. One of the biggest debates after I decided to race on a SS was what gear should I use? I had only three choices 32 x 20, 32 x 19, or 32 x18 after talking to some other SSers and remembering how hard some of the climbs were even with gears I chose a 32 x 19.


We got to Coburn on Friday around 7:30 and got our tent setup up had dinner and was just hanging out and went to bed. Before long I heard that old familiar sound of the gong which only means one thing get your lazy up and start to getting ready for today's big adventure. For me this is one of the hardest parts of the day. Getting up before the sun comes out just is really hard on me, plus trying to eat this early is a little troublesome too. After rushing around getting ready it was time to go. I was able to get lined up in a good spot and down the road we went. Then we made a left turn and the race started up the first long climb. The pace this year up the first climb was allot slower than last year. Then after about 1/4 mile I'm like WTF my fork decided to squat down and not work. I tried locking it out but still luck, I figured OK this won't be that bad. I keep the lead group in sight until we hit some flat sections and a few short downhills so I was feeling pretty good. Then before I knew it I was riding all alone then a group caught up to me and I stuck with them for a little until I fell off. At this point I was wishing that I had went with a 32 x 18 instead. But in the back of my head I thought it will be OK, this gear will be good when I get to the big climbs in the middle and end.


I was just cruising along by myself when I was caught by another group. I hung with them and we were rolling into check point #1. I never stop here because it's so early on. But there's a big climb leaving this check point and I felt good and passed allot of people up the climb. Then a long descent and some road then we hit the first piece of single track. It's only about 3 mile long but it seemed very slippery from the rain. At this point I was feeling pretty good both mentally and physically. I started up the next big gravel climb and seen allot of people ahead of me on the road. So this gave me a little motivation to try and catch them. I was very surprised that one of the first people I caught was Gunnar and he said that now I was now in 5th SS. We rode together for a little and Roger Masse soon caught us. Then when the road made the hard left I figured it's time to go and I bridged up to the next group and was able to get past them. Finally when we reached the top I was feeling good but that didn't last to long. The trail started heading downhill and so did I. About halfway down everyone that just I just worked hard to pass went railing past me. By the time I reached the bottom everyone was out of site. Once I was on the road I was spinning like crazy hoping I could catch a glimpse of someone but no such luck. At this point I was like it's OK and I was regretting the gear choice again that's when another group caught me and I tried to stick with them but was just spinning out and couldn't hang. Alone again I was thinking about quitting. Because I was getting frustrated about the fork and knew how much harder the trails were going to get. My arm already felt numb, cramping and was tried. So finally I rolled into checkpoint #2 and got some supplies and debated about quitting but figured WTF I might as while get my money's worth.


I left #2 and was pretty frustrated because I knew no matter how strong I rode the climbs it wasn't going to be enough. Because I was going so slow on the downhills. Going up the climb I didn't really care about getting to the top to quickly because I knew the downhill was pretty nasty and wasn't looking forward to it. But finally I reached the top and turned into the single track and to my surprise the trail was in the best shape I've ever seen it in. Usually this trail is very narrow only about 12" wide but this year is cut back and you see. What sucked is that I was going slower than ever down it. Then I had another WTF happen my rear brake seems to start squealing which I can deal with but it also causes the entire bike to vibrate. I'm not sure what the problem is but it's very annoying and to the point where I was riding using the front brake only. Finally I reach the bottom and get back on some gravel road and everything is OK for a little bit. Then I start thinking I'm only like 3-1/2 hours into this and my arm feels like crap, I'm walking on the rocky downhills, my fork's not working and my brakes just started acting up and I'm not even halfway. Finally I made it to checkpoint #3 and was sitting there and was really thinking about quitting. Funny thing is I've done this race before and never thought of quitting this early, but my legs also never felt this good at this point in the race. So I decided to press on and told myself relax and don't worry about placing just finish because DNF sucks. So after about 10 minutes of sitting around I left and started up the single track climb.

OK now things took a turn for the better, usually the climb out of #3 kicks my ass but this year I felt great and passed a few people. The single track at the top was well groomed I walked some sections but I still felt good. The only sections that worried me now was the climb out of #4 and the descent going into #5. But before I knew it I was at check point #4 refueled and headed up the climb. I was pleasantly surprised because I felt great on the climb. Finally made it through the climbing and hit the descent. I was really nervous because this descent has taken it's toll on me every year. But I just took it easy and walked a little and before I knew it was over onto some blacktop and then checkpoint #5 was in site. I left #5 feeling fine and knew that it was almost over. I hit the rail trail and spun as fast as I could then it was up over the last big climb. I finally hit the Fisherman's Trail and walked through that and was onto the road back to the park.

It was a long day but not crazy long 8:55 10th SS 48th overall. I know that usually I'm completely wrecked after this race but I felt pretty good at the end but I'm not sure why? Not sure if it was because I raced a SS and got more recovery or what but I was happy not to wreck like usual.

I was hoping Ruth was having a good race it was the first race on the new bike. She finished in 11:05 which was about an hour better than her best time but sadly her placing was her worst ever. I guess everyone must be getting faster.

J